Vertex 2024 speaker: gain tips on meeting clients' demands from Andy Hammond

"My career began when I met a director who told me exactly what job I should be doing. While working as a runner, he found out that I’d been painting commissioned oil portraits to earn money on the side and said, 'Oh you can draw, you should be a storyboard artist.' So that’s what I did.  

"The following week I drew a storyboard that told the tale of me, drawing a storyboard, handing it to a producer, getting my first job and then everyone having a big party. I was too shy to actually hand it to the producer, so I left it on her desk and ran away. That led to my first storyboard job and subsequently 10 years as a storyboard artist, concept artist and illustrator."

"One project that was an absolute joy to create was the “You Got This!” music video for Alba: A Wildlife Adventure by usTwo Games. Alba is a beautiful game, that was founded on strong principles of protecting the wildlife around you. Our team at Maverick pitched an idea about animals singing a song of encouragement to those trying to protect the environment. 

"usTwo loved the idea and gave us heaps of creative freedom to explore their world through new eyes. Taking inspiration from the game, we developed new designs for the characters and their environments, imagining what it would look like as a musical.  

"It was an incredible opportunity that gave me the chance to combine so many of the skills I’d learned through my career. I sketched storyboards and built animatics, doodled character designs which Ritzy Animation artfully brought to life, and worked with songwriters, directing them to quack and sing like squirrels. Admittedly I had little to no previous experience for that last one, but I was very grateful for Neighbourhood Jukebox who seemed to trust me and threw themselves into their performance. 

"The result proved successful not just for audiences of the game, but with the games’ creators who lovingly saw it as an extension of the world they’d created."

"Some advice has been helpful, like that from the director I mentioned, but ultimately all I’ve ever really needed was the encouragement to commit to what I already knew was true, and that’s commonly been contrary to advice.  

"That encouragement has come from knowing that being creative has always proved to be a pillar in my life. It’s given me a community and a deeper connection with others, it’s offered me stability in times of insecurity and led me to grow in unique ways. Doing the creative thing, is often scary, because the outcome is uncertain, but taking that path has always come with inherent rewards that I couldn’t have predicted, and I’ve been endlessly grateful for."

"Having been a freelance artist to now directing them, pitching work to clients, and designing marketing campaigns, I have learned what makes artwork achieve the desired result, what makes it effective for audiences and how to support artists in doing the work to get it there.  

"Game creators always come with a multitude of requirements for any artwork they produce, and these can initially seem overwhelming. With so many targets to hit, ambitions can get clouded.  

"My experience helps me to break everything down, and understand how, when, where and why things need to be communicated. This process gives the game creators an opportunity to further define their game and bring it to life for their audience. We help to establish the game’s identity and contribute to the journey the player is about to go on. I will talk about how this translates in practical terms for the artist, touching on the use of value, colour, form and composition to answer the clients’ brief."